The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Strathmartine Hospital: A dark history
Derelict and decaying, Strathmartine Hospital near Dundee is a target for vandals and fireraisers. Now, however, there are plans to develop the sprawling site – which has been described as a “potential deathtrap”. To mark the launch of a new documentary by The Courier’s Nostalgia team, GAYLE RITCHIE goes behind the crumbling walls of the hospital to expose its dark history
The tattered shreds of 1960s-style floral curtains shift soundlessly against gaping windows, the jagged panes of smashed glass glinting in the dim winter light.
Mould spores cling to rotting walls and planks of desiccated chipboard hang from doorways in a lacklustre attempt to keep out intruders.
Gazing down dark, desolate corridors, Stanley Kubrick’s iconic horror film The Shining springs to mind, although the grim spectre of decaying Strathmartine Hospital is more likely to give you nightmares.
At the bottom of a dank stairwell, you’re confronted with a skull and crossbones crudely spray-painted on a wall with the challenge: “If you can find the body, you win”, tagged beside it.
A few feet away, a ward boasts a wallpaper that seems incongruously cheery.
An off-white shade, it features clocks, flowers and items of crockery.
On walls nearby, the paper is torn and shredded, the paint peeling, the brickwork behind it exposed to the elements.
Crumpled on the ground alongside chunks of fallen rubble are long-forgotten festive decorations – some tinsel and an ironic “Merry Christmas” sign.
At every turn, there’s the drip, drip, drip of water seeping its way into the rotten core of the structure.
And yet, amidst all the decay and neglect, there’s new life.
Nature has reclaimed many of Strathmartine’s abandoned buildings, now home to sprawling swathes of vegetation.
Trees branch up through floors, and ferns sprout up through the rubble.
Moss, a fan of the damp, thrives here, too.
Some might find beauty in the abandonment, but the overriding sense at Strathmartine is of foreboding, of sadness, of neglect.
As it sinks further into decline, very few of its buildings, spread across 44 acres, can be saved.
The only hope is that a new lease of life can be injected into the site via plans for a major redevelopment in spring.
Strathmartine Hospital started life in the 1850s as the Baldovan Institution, an orphanage and asylum “for imbecile and idiot children”.
Founded in 1852 by Sir John and Lady Jane Ogilvy, it was the first facility of its kind in Scotland.
Today the word “asylum” has all sorts of negative connotations, but for many people, Baldovan was a sanctuary – a place to call home, somewhere safe. A sanctuary.
There was a dark side to its history, too, with allegations of abuse, cruel forms of punishment and suicide in the mix.
The hospital was transferred to the NHS in 1948 before it was decommissioned in stages in the 1980s.
It finally closed in 2003, becoming a target for vandals and fire-raisers.
Plans have been approved by Angus Council to transform the site into a new housing development, a monumental task which involves restoring some buildings but demolishing the vast majority.
Memories, both positive and negative, remain in the hearts and minds of those who lived and worked at Strathmartine and many people care about its future.
Local campaigner Karen McAulay has fought to save the structure from falling into disrepair for decades.
“It’s full of dangerous buildings – Strathmartine Hospital has become a potential death trap,” she says.
“Over the years I’ve watched it degrade and deteriorate and be targeted by vandals and arsonists to the point where there’s only a slim chance of some buildings being saved.”
Karen’s mum, grandmother and greatgrandmother all worked at Strathmartine.
She’s explored the crumbling buildings often, becoming increasingly despondent each time she picks her way through gaps in fences, or walks through doorways which have been wrenched open by vandals.
Aware many of the buildings are structurally unsafe, she’s keen to see security increased to ensure anyone accessing it doesn’t have an accident or loses their life.
Karen is campaigning to have the former chapel of rest – a listed building that is currently earmarked for demolition – transformed into a heritage centre.
“We’re left with four listed buildings and two cottages that should be developed into properties but the rest of the site, unfortunately, will be demolished,” she says.
“It would be reasonably low cost and quick to convert the chapel of rest into a heritage centre which would be fantastic. It would tell people about Strathmartine’s story and make sure we stay connected to its past.”
Karen has delved deep into the hospital’s history and has many shocking and heart-wrenching stories.
She said: “Some wards in the 1950s had ‘time-out’ rooms and Strathmartine in fact had a very strict time-out policy.
“These rooms were very small – no bigger than a large cupboard – and most had steel shutters and no windows. People were kept in a room with no windows, steel shutters and no light.”
Some residents were also placed in what they referred to as “tea boxes”.
“These were small wooden boxes that tea was delivered in,” explains Karen.
“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say these boxes were smaller than coffins.”
Not everything that went on was bad – there were a lot of positive things about Strathmartine, too.
“People raised funds for extras for residents in the 1970s and that paid for a swimming pool, a playpark and a minibus so they could go on day trips and holidays,” says Karen.
“Staff cared and went the extra mile – they knew residents deserved better.”
Angus councillor Craig Fotheringham is concerned about the ongoing issues of fireraising and vandalism issues and is keen for work to progress on developing Strathmartine.